Mavericks

They bought the championship two years ago, Terry and Kidd are done, Dirk is Dirk but he is a one trick pony. It will take the Mav's a few years and new superstars to get back to the elite level.
 
It is a sad state of affairs. The Mavs put all their eggs in the free agent basket and got shut out. It does not look like they will get any relief from next year's class of elite players available either (C Paul, J Harden, and D. Howard). I may be in the minority, but I believe the Mavs caught lightning in a bottle for their championship run. If they brought the band back together, it would have set them back financially 10 years. As it is, they have financial flexibility, but they cannot use any of the cash. No major FA has ever been willing to go to the Mavs and I do not see that changing anytime soon.

They will likely need to rebuild through the draft and try to sign younger players that they see potential in and have not quite lived up to that potential. The problem is that Dirk alone (with a bunch of guys) can probably get them to a 7 or 8 seed in the West (or at the worst case just out of the playoffs). So, building through the draft is unlikely, at least for the next couple years.

It could be a rough 4-5 years for Mavs fans being stuck in NBA purgatory of bottom level playoff team or top level lottery team. The management will have to work very hard to get this team back to the NBA championship caliber. My only hope is that they do not panic and try to stick to their plan (whatever plan that was). My fear is that this will not be the case and Cuban will panic unnecessarily.
 
financial flexibility doesn't mean anything if you are just going to field mediocre teams. Whoopee. At least go for it when you have the team that won as it may never happen again.
 
Too late now. That ship has sailed. Nash to the Lakers isn't going to fundamentally change that team. I just don't see anyone in the west except SA challenging OKC. Miami and NJ if they get Howard in the East. Rest are just kidding themselves.
 
They were overly optimistic about Williams coming home. And when it was apparent that wouldn't work, they thought Nash would take a 2-year deal. Then I think Cuban and Donnie Nelson got pissed off and decided to sell the farm.

There really isn't much left. Ramon Sessions might HAVE to go to Dallas at this point. Guys like Elton Brand and Rashard Lewis would take restructured contracts just for a chance to play somewhere, no matter how battered they might be. I wouldn't be surprised if Cunningham played in over 75 games and started 15+... he's versatile. However, I'd be worried about his long-term prospects as a cure-all.

Mavs are keeping their options over for next summer. They're going to try to hope for a #5-8 seed in the playoffs in 2013 on Dirk alone, and then spend huge bucks next year when guys like Paul are available.
 
Well, we have to assume they're going to pick up another mid-level G out of whatever is available. Collison gives them some viable depth, and my guess is they grab one more and see if Beaubois can handle a little bit of point as well. It was a little troubling that Collison got benched for the playoffs, but maybe he just needed a scenery change. There are so many guards left that they could just throw out mid-level exceptions to anyone and there's bound to be some interest. I'd go with Jordan Farmar. John Lucas was also doing some good things for Chicago at the end of last season.

On top of that, it looks likely that they'll get Brand now too. His picture is next to "serviceable" in the dictionary.

So your starting front line is Marion, Nowitzki, and Kaman. Guard is going to be a problem, but not horrible compared to some other teams. I think the Mavs truly want Cunningham to play a lot and possibly start in Collison's or Carter's spot on occasion. And James will take up the Mahinmi role well.

So sure... they're not OKC. But they don't have to be if they're playing for the Paul or Howard sweepstakes again next summer. All in all, it's not like they're the Bobcats.
 
I'll take those betting odds if you're saying they'll go 39-43 or worse. We've seen plenty of teams with 1 great player and a bunch of scrub role players do better than that. Lebron made it to the NBA Finals that way.

They'll lose the fast-paced transition games, but they should still pound out some good wins when they play half court.

Teams that for sure will be better than the Mavs in 2013: OKC, San Antonio, LA, LAC, Memphis.

Teams on pretty much equal ground considering their flaws: Denver, Utah, Portland.

Teams that will be worse than the Mavs: Houston, Phoenix, Minnesota, Golden State, NO, Sac/Anaheim/wherever they're possibly moving.
 
I've also heard they might end up with Scola since it looks like Houston will be releasing him to make room for their attempt at Dwight Howard.
 
OJ The JuiceMan will sign with the Mavericks.

The Mavs know have a starting limeup up of

Collison
Mayo
Marion
Dirk
Kaman

With the bench looking like
Dahntay Jones
Vince Carter
Elton Brand


This team is better then last years Mavs team.
 
Going into last season, I don't think it's better, Nuke, especially not having the benefit of hindsight on just how bad Odom would be. On paper, I'd say about equal. Better in post scoring. Weaker at guard. Huge question mark with chemistry. If they can gel, then yeah, this team could be salty.

At any rate, I am pleased with the moves they made after they failed with DW and DH.
 
not top 8? Maybe not top 4, but that's easily a playoff team given decent help and actually giving a damn.
 
I don't think a rational person could look at that lineup and say that Portland, Utah, Denver, Houston, or other team not named "Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, or Grizzlies" are better than Dallas. I could conceivably see them finishing 10th in the conference if they had some sort of disaster where Dirk got injured for the year. But if they're all playing at 100 percent, no worse than 6th.
 
About the time that Jet was landing in Boston & Nash was landing in LA, I thought the Mavs were done for. Now I am actually excited about next year.

HOOK 'EM,
Texdoc
smile.gif
 
The Mavs have actually handled free agency pretty effectively this year, given that they didn't get the point guard of their choice. They've gotten younger, more athletic, and added some offense from the front court to go with Dirk, and they've done it all while still keeping the financial numbers where they need to be to be a player next year in free agency. They're also still a big player for Dwight Howard, so I'd say it's been a pretty good off-season for the Mavs, and that's not even taking into account any help at depth they get from their drafted players.
 
I'm a Spurs fan, but definitely see the Mavs as a top six team - maybe even top four - in the west if they stay relatively healthy.
 
Mavs won a championhsip and then let one of their main pieces slip away. We all saw the result last year. Now they are losing more pieces and getting older. Their championship chances are done at this point.
 
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